Wang Xu wore a smile on his face. No matter how jealous he felt inside, he had to say pleasant things and flatter Song Qiming a little.
"Qiming is Lord Ye's only disciple. Out of respect for Lord Ye, the dean naturally has to take extra care of him."
Song Qiming calmly cupped his hands in greeting to the group and said with a hint of shyness, "To be honest with you all, I was a bit nervous taking the provincial exam for the first time. I stayed up all night after finishing the exam yesterday, so I had no choice but to seek out the dean. There is still about half a month before the results are announced, and I can't just be anxious every day."
Wang Xu and the others raised their eyebrows. "Oh? Looking at Brother Song's rosy complexion, I imagine you must have performed quite well."
Everyone visiting Mu Hongyue today shared the same purpose. As the most outstanding group of students in the academy, it was perfectly normal for them to be questioned by the academy's teachers after the exam.
The students' examination results were crucial to the academy. They not only represented the teachers' instructional level but also served as the academy's future network in official circles.
Song Qiming did not tell the truth. Before the dust settled, one could not speak too absolutely, as it was hard to guarantee no one would bear a grudge.
"The dean said my answers were passable, and I should be able to pass the provincial exam."
The crowd exchanged glances. It was already a sure thing for Song Qiming to pass and become a Juren. Based on his past performance at the academy, merely passing was not enough; his goal should be the top five or even the first place. Could it be that he underperformed?
Song Qiming cupped his hands to take his leave. "My family is still waiting for me to return, so I will take my leave first. I wish all my fellow students great success and top honors in the examinations."
Watching Song Qiming's retreating back as he left in silence, their hearts sank halfway.
Wang Rui sighed with emotion, "It is inevitable to be nervous in the examination room at a young age. Regardless of the rank, just passing to become a Juren is good enough."
Ji Youming and Hu Fengye exchanged a glance.
Even when facing vicious, blade-wielding thugs, Song Qiming could rise up to resist without losing ground. Would he really be nervous in the examination room? It seemed impossible no matter how they thought about it. Most likely, he was just being modest and didn't want to tell them.
After He Feixuan and the others entered the inner hall, they held the exam papers they had written from memory, waiting for Mu Hongyue to critique them one by one.
"The writing is excellent. You may go back and await good news."
"The opening breaks into the theme perfectly, and the diction is magnificent. Top tier!"
At the same time, the homes of inner-courtyard teachers like Yang Yanfeng were also crowded with students. The homes of the teachers for the outer-courtyard students who participated were not spared either.
However, their critiques were much worse than Mu Hongyue's.
"The writing is mediocre, the artistic conception is acceptable; there is a slight glimmer of hope."
"You lack maturity. Study for another three years."
Facing the outer-courtyard students, the teachers' evaluations were mostly, "Your courage is commendable; take the exam again in three years."
The inner-courtyard teacher held Song Gaoli's memorized paper, his brows furrowing tightly, then relaxing, his eyes filled with equal parts surprise and confusion.
"How did you think of writing it like this?" The argument of the policy essay was tricky and obscure. He had read over a dozen reconstructed papers, and not a single one was like his.
Furthermore, the tone of flattery in the examination poem was far too strong. It would easily make the inner-curtain examiners feel that this person was obsequious and lacked the backbone of a scholar.
Song Gaoli scratched the back of his head and replied, "For this provincial exam, given my academic foundation, the hope of passing to become a Juren was already slim. That is why I wanted to find a different path. Song Qiming and I happened to discuss this argument by chance. It was just a passing remark at the time, but when I saw the topic, I figured I could use it, so I expanded on it considerably."
The inner-courtyard teacher held up the paper and turned it over. "And what about this poem?"
Song Gaoli's earlobes tensed, and he lowered his head in embarrassment.
"As you know, sir, my poetry is generally below average. Before the exam, I inquired about the past experiences of the chief examiner for this provincial exam, which is why I wrote it this way. It couldn't be worse than what I usually write. If I am lucky enough to have the chief examiner see it, I might even get a high score."
"Even if not, when others see that I am praising the chief examiner, they probably won't give it too low a score."
The inner-courtyard teacher's brows furrowed into little peaks. "Your intentions are too obvious. If word gets out, it will be bad for your reputation."
Song Gaoli looked up uncomfortably and quickly lowered his eyes again. "As long as I can pass, a bad reputation doesn't matter."
At most, people would mock him for having impure motives, lacking real talent, and relying on flattery to rise. But so what? It was still better than failing without even trying.
Seeing him say this, the inner-courtyard teacher picked up the paper and carefully read it again. Finally, he said, "It depends on your luck. If by chance it aligns with the preferences of the inner-curtain examiner grading this paper, there might still be a glimmer of hope."
He sighed and seemed ready to let the matter rest, but suddenly asked, "You are not usually like this. Who came up with this idea for you?"
Song Gaoli looked away, glancing left and right, and stammered in reply, "I thought hard for a long time in the examination room and really couldn't come up with a good poem. I resorted to this as a bad plan, truly out of helplessness."
The inner-courtyard teacher stared at Song Gaoli meaningfully. Seeing that he wasn't usually this clever, and recalling that Song Gaoli was closest to Song Qiming, the teacher formed a guess in his heart.
If he really managed to pass, this move wouldn't have been in vain. Either way, there was nothing to lose.
